Commentary

The Warriors have an Oakland feel too. That’s correct. But once they move to San Francisco, it will lose that touch.

But the A’s don’t have an Oakland feel? I’ve been going to A’s games since I was a kid and I don’t know what Adande defines as an Oakland feel. Even though the crowds are small, the passion is just as strong as any other fanbase I’ve seen. During the playoffs, you can’t match the passion and cheers from Oakland.

From 2009-2010, Vince Carter and Dwight Howard were teammates on the Orlando Magic. Carter has seen Howard play up close and personal, so he knows the history of the big man.

They play on separate teams now and they faced off last night as the Mavericks took on the Rockets. During the game, Carter had some choice words for Howard as he was talking with an official.

“All the time,” Carter told ESPN of Howard’s whining to officials. “He always talks about how I’m a crybaby. I was like, ‘Yo, you’re the biggest crybaby I know.’ And then later, he’s like, ‘Yo, why’d you say that to me?’ But I know Dwight. It’s all good, but he is [a crybaby].”

Of course Carter didn’t really say any of that to really attack Howard, but it’s true that in this league with floppers and bad officiating, the perception of certain players are put under the microscope. For Howard, after he whined his way out of Orlando and flopped in Los Angeles, his reputation isn’t very strong. Adding to the fact that he’s a terrible offensive player for a guy of his stature, he has a lot going against him.

His perception of being a unreliable basketball player has always been something I held on to after he forced his way out of Orlando. Carter just adds to the perception of what I have of him. Is Howard that bad? Probably not. But he’s turned himself into that kind of a villain in the NBA where we want to see him look bad. After all, he did bring some of it to himself and Carter is just pointing it out to us again.

What surprises me about this is that this actually happened. Most times ribbing in the locker room happens and it passes by, but for the first time since I can remember, the ribbing and joking caused someone to lose it.

What’s surprising about Friday’s development in Jonathan Martin’s case is that he said that he’s OK and that the teammates making the jokes aren’t to blame.

“Yeah, I’m good man. It’s insane bro, but just know I don’t blame you guys at all. It’s just the culture around football, and the locker room got to me a little.”

This was something that I feared but kind of expected when I saw that the postseason patches would be applied onto the batting practice cap. Now with images surfacing of teams going through practice, it shows that New Era and MLB are finding new ways to market their products.

I don’t even know why a postseason patch would be applied to an article of the uniform that won’t be used during the game. But I suppose if anyone sees these before the game, that will embed in their minds to get one. After all, applying a patch to anything makes it a new product, right?

Last year, MLB added the postseason patch to caps for the first time ever. This year, they’re adding postseason patches to the jerseys. What’s next? Postseason patches to the batting helmets? Wait, maybe they’re already doing that. Either way, their new marketing ploy is here and I bet someone will buy it. It’s not really new, but it’s different enough where you might think about getting it.

When I found out the news, I did a little dance. This is what I have been waiting for.

This isn’t to say that I don’t like Bud Selig. I think he was a decent commissioner, but wasn’t anything worth praising. He gave us Interleague Play, which I think was nice and his expansion of the playoffs is starting to grow on me. However, as an Oakland A’s fan, his departure is welcomed.

After his “blue ribbon” committee to solve the Athletics’ stadium situation continues to go nowhere, and his recent comments on calling the Coliseum a “pit,” seeing him leave is perfect. His indecision about the A’s has hurt the potential revenue and well-being of the team. The fear of rejection it seems is the reason why he has procrastinated on it.

But with his departure in 2015, that could mean one of two things for the A’s: Either Selig finally makes a decision before his tenure is up or whomever comes in as the new commissioner will have to deal with it. And if it’s the latter, I hope that new commissioner gives the A’s some help.

Until then, we’ll just wait and see if he gives the A’s an clarity on the direction of their future.

There are some mixed reactions to this potential deal to move the Big Game to new Levi’s Stadium in 2014.

In a business sense, it’s a great idea. Stanford is closer to Santa Clara so the travel for them is easier. Even though Cal renovated their stadium, Levi’s Stadium will have a bigger seating capacity and has a lot better amenities for the fans.

There’s a lot of potential revenue to be made here and to have it at a marquee venue would definitely boost its exposure.

Ichiro bows to the fans after collecting his 4,000th professional hit.

Ichiro Suzuki collected his 4,000th professional hit earlier tonight. Combining his time in Japan and with Major League Baseball, 4,000 is a great accomplishment. But of course, there has to be an acknowledgment that it’s not on the level as Ty Cobb or Pete Rose. Any smart person knows that Ichiro’s accomplishments are not on their level.

But in this case, some people on Twitter have gotten out of their way to be so angry at Ichiro for still accomplishing a very difficult milestone regardless if some of the hits came from Japan. After all, getting a hit is hard enough. Getting it 4,000 times is pretty special. It’s like his time in Japan getting hits doesn’t mean anything. Nobody is saying that all his hits are from his time in America. But it’s lost somewhere with these people.

#Ichiro is a great hitter but he did not get 4000 hits let alone 3000 hits